Friday, May 8, 2009

Lit Circle #5 p. 4

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We talked today about the loss of control man is experiencing concerning the machines, results of his own creation. We also talked of the good that a robotic politician that abides by the three laws of robotics could do for the world.We also enjoyed performing a wonderful musical number from the famous Julie Andrews movie "The Sound of Music".

The robots' being able to disguise themselves as humans further blurs the distinction between robot and human, and distorts further the accepted definition of humanity.

The whole society being run by machines also symbolizes man's loss of control and blurs the definition of humanity- if human society is based off the actions and thoughts of machines, what is left of humanity? Have robots become humanity, or vice versa? It adds a idea of perfection, for the machines are not supposed to make mistakes; however, it also adds a large margin of error for machines do not have emotions or instinct, which are important in decisions that affect humans.

Our group discussed about what curriculum the book best fit. The consensus of our group was that our book fit the eighth grade curriculum better than the ninth grade curriculum. A major part of the eighth grade curriculum is to develop the ability to draw inferences. In I, Robot one must infer that a character is a robot. There are numerous clues that allude to this but it is never explicitly stated. Eighth graders are expected to identify point of view, style, theme, symbolism, antagonist/protagonist, and mood. I, Robot because of its short story format includes all of these characteristics of fiction. Furthermore, they are fairly subtle and can be analyzed or debated at an appropriate eighth grade level. Eighth graders are also expected to demonstrate comprehension using diverse materials. I, Robot is written in a way that comprehension can be expressed in a variety of ways. I, Robot ends without really concluding. It allows the reader to predict the outcome using textual clues. As this is also a part of the eighth grade curriculum we feel like this book is most appropriate for eighth graders. This is all of what we discussed during this lit circle.

Our group today finished both books the last circle. so today we addressed the literary merit of both books in the state standards, created our definition of morality and divided up the work for each of us to do this weekend. Emma Whitney

1984-group one We discussed how to put our slideshow together and what to include in each slide. We all brought in connections we found in the book that relate to the society we live in compared to the society portrayed in 1984. We talked about the themes of the book (like the idea to never conform), and also we discussed the main idea/plot summary. We talked about why the author would have written this book and we thought he wrote it as a warning to what society was becoming under communism. Also we figured the book was a form of anti communist propaganda because of the year it was written.

In our last discussion we mainly discussed our final presentation and what tasks each member will be completing. Yet we also talked about how in the story-line of the book, nothing is actual accomplished. Yes, Winston is able to affiliate with Julia, and he does bring upon himself some freedom, yet at the end he is turned and becomes a believer of the party. The story is cyclical, and shows that once a dystopian society has taken a foothold, their is no way of stopping it. Winston began his life as a believer, then questioned the society, and turned once more into a believer, all under the watchful eye of The Party. After discussing the book we worked on our presentation and collaborated on what to say.